March 23, 2005
Decisions: Adult or Student-centered?
Why do I include this as an issue of music advocacy?
Because, it is my observation that the lack of a student-centered
decision-making process is the number one issue in education!
As stated in a previous entry, whenever any decision is made
the question must be asked:
"What will the short and long term effects of this decision be on the students in the district?"
Federal mandates, the demand for increasing test
scores, the shortage of funding for public education, and a variety of other
issues often convey an environment of negativism toward public education and in
particular the public school educator. Even in states or districts that have demonstrated standards of
excellence in student achievement there is often the presence of a public
attitude that assumes "since there are problems in education somewhere
they must be just as bad in our district, too!"
This crisis of negativism places
the educator in the position of constantly defending their roles as
administrators or teachers. The need to
demonstrate administrative leadership or skills as a teacher can drive the
decision-maker to operate out of personal need. The need for self-preservation
politicizes the decision-making process and can lead to conflict (power
struggles) between administrators, school board, and teachers. Student learning
can become a secondary issue.
While public education exists for learning, the decision-makers in any
school district are adults. Adults tend
to make decisions based upon the perspective their position gives them on any
issue. Administrators solve problems from an administrative perspective:
Budgets, staffing, public relations, keeping teachers happy. Teachers solve problems from a teaching
perspective: class size, student loads, salaries & benefits, keeping
parents happy.
When the mission of
education is perceived as teaching or
educating children (See Decision-Makers:
Who's Really Calling the Shots?) and not learning, the forces underlying the decision-making process may be
driven by adult-centered issues. The
influence of adult-centered issues in the decision-making process is often
subtle. At other times they are
blatantly obvious. Somehow educators seem to have adopted the concept that if
we solve the issues that surface related to our job conditions, we have
improved the learning of our students. Consequently decisions tend to be made that resolve adult needs, but do
not necessarily improve learning.
Some examples from actual school
districts may serve to illustrate the problem.
Example #1: The school district is in a financial
crisis. The administrators decide that
all students shall be required to schedule a one-period study hall
as part of their six-period day. This
would facilitate the elimination of a significant number of teachers, and place
250 students per hour in one large room with a single supervisor.
While the district was in a financial crisis,
further research into the situation revealed that there was a music teacher the
administration had wanted to fire for several years. The financial crisis provided the perfect
opportunity. The district mandated the
elimination of 50% of the entire music teaching staff in order to go deep
enough into the seniority tract to eliminate that teacher. The decision to require each student to
schedule one study period per day was primarily to facilitate those students
who would no longer be able to take music.
The Result: Upon revealing these facts to the parents, the administration rescinded
their recommendation and reinstated the music program.
Example #2: Elementary schools in the district are
overcrowded, but building a new school is not an option. Changing attendance boundaries or areas would
solve the problem, but is an extremely volatile issue. The district decides to approach the problem
with "educational reform." They will adopt a middle school philosophy of education.
The Result: The six graders are moved into the old
"junior high" facilities. The
names are changed, but little else. They
may add an exploratory wheel in which student take a greater variety of
subjects or activities, or even make a few other changes. General music is reduced from a full year to
a six week exploratory. Band, choir and
orchestra are reduced from daily instruction to every other day to facilitate
more exploratory classes; and music teachers are replaced with exploratory
teachers. Lessons and elementary (grade
five) beginning instruction are eliminated. Elementary classroom teachers are happier because the
"pull-out" lessons are gone.
Example #3: The district has hired a new administrator(s)
who has decided to investigate various alternatives of educational reform. They decide to adopt block scheduling.
The Result: Students lose eight weeks of instructional
time per course. The new administrator
demonstrates leadership skill as an "agent of change." [Note: In every district that has
consulted me about block schedule as educational reform, there has been a new
administrator leading the change.]
Example #4: In a small district, the administration and
guidance counselors are working out the class schedule for the coming
year. One major issue seems to be in the
way of completing the process. All the
coaches (including the high school principal) participate in an amateur
basketball league. Their schedules have
all been arranged so that they have the last hour of the day available to
practice in the gym. The problem: There are no other teachers available to
supervise study hall during the last period.
The Result: Although the band director is voluntarily
teaching band lessons during his "prep" hour, it is decided that the
only logical action is to eliminate lessons and assign study hall supervision
to the band director.
Until next time,
John Benham
DEMAND STUDENT-CENTERED DECISIONS!
